By late tonight, the Sharks and the Calgary Flames will have spent seven brutal games trying to beat one another into black-and-blue pulp.

Blood will have been spilled - plenty of it belonging to Sharks captain Patrick Marleau. Crusty language and curses exchanged.

Yet when it's finally over, exhausted players from both teams will line up at center ice, take off the sweaty gloves that for 13 days they've been using to "face-wash" opponents and extend their hands like gentlemen.

This marks the first Game 7 at HP Pavilion in Sharks history, which means it's guaranteed that one of the great traditions in sports will occur:

The post-series handshake.

No matter how intense, physical or downright dirty a series becomes, hockey players suddenly discover their inner-Miss Manners, rein in their raging emotions and shake on it - win or lose. A rugged contest will come to a civilized conclusion.

"We're probably the most violent sport where you can get hurt at any time," Sharks Coach Ron Wilson said. "And it's just an incredible show of respect that when it's all done, you can leave it right there and shake hands.

"Maybe it's because we're a classy sport. Unfortunately, sports can be about chest-bumping and pointing at myself. But that's not what hockey players are all about."

Marleau will be expected to shake with Cory Sarich and Dion Phaneuf - the Flames who tried their best to send him to the emergency room in Game 3 with vicious hits.

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Calgary captain Jarome Iginla is supposed to reach out to Ryane Clowe, who was caught on camera making a crybaby gesture at him in Game 5.

No one says the handshakes won't be halfhearted, delivered with teeth clenched and cold stares, or constitute the quickest pressing of flesh outside of a presidential campaign appearance. But they will be done because it's the hockey way.

"Obviously there are some teams you don't like and there's players you don't like," Sharks defenseman Brian Campbell said. "And after you play seven games against a team, that's especially the case. But once it's said and done, this is the way we say, 'It's over.' "

In other sports, athletes often embrace one another on the field or court after the clock runs out. But no other major pro sport has such a formalized ritual.

And the act of sportsmanship, forced or not, is considered so meaningful that when a snub occurs - such as when New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur ignored New York Rangers pest Sean Avery last week - it makes headlines, especially in hockey-mad Canada.

Not everyone, of course, has believed in the custom over the years. Nobody keeps track of handshakes on a score sheet, so undoubtedly there have been countless players who have refused to shake with those no-good, cheatin' sons of gunswearing the other uniforms.

Hall of Fame goalie Billy Smith - nicknamed Battlin' Billy - was infamous for refusing to take part because he thought it would be hypocritical to act nice after playing so mean. Sharks defenseman Craig Rivet understands that sentiment.

"I find it very difficult to shake somebody's hand after you've gone to battle," Rivet said. "A lot of things happen that you think are disrespectful. It's extremely hard to turn that off after a series has just ended. You do it because it's the tradition of hockey. But if I had a choice, I wouldn't do it."

Last spring, after Anaheim eliminated his Detroit team, veteran Chris Chelios didn't join the handshake line. Anaheim's Teemu Selanne then fumed about Chelios' lack of class, adding: "Have a good summer." Chelios later explained that he was overcome with emotion and physically ill.

On Friday, Brodeur skipped Avery after his Devils were eliminated from the playoffs. Avery, one of the NHL's most disliked players, had turned hockey etiquette on its head in the series when he screened Brodeur by standing in front of him and waving his stick.

The NHL quickly moved to rule the maneuver illegal.Brodeur, who has a good-guy reputation, registered his own displeasure by refusing to shake Avery's hand - a choice that led to accusations of him being a bad loser. Avery was the first to make the claim.

"Everybody talks about how unclassy I am," Avery said. "Fatso just forgot to shake my hand, I guess."

Clowe said he couldn't understand why any player wouldn't shake an opponent's hand after a hard-fought series. But then he thought of one thing - if a teammate was injured by a cheap shot.

"There was that Claude Lemieux-Kris Draper situation," Clowe said.

Lemieux - who carved out a reputation as a hockey villain - was playing for Colorado in the 1996 Western Conference finals when he broke the face of Detroit's Draper with an ugly check into the boards. Lemieux was ejected, but returned for the post-series ritual withthe Red Wings - who grudgingly congratulated him.